For months, E.U. officials have faced criticism for failing to prevent the Paris and Brussels attacks, with many intelligence experts blaming the lack of information sharing. Away from the debate and out of the spotlight, the E.U’s law-enforcement agency Europol has quietly tried to piece together the terror threats, working out of its sleek, modern headquarters in the small Dutch capital of The Hague.
Europol has not escaped criticism, too: Some E.U. lawmakers fear some European officials want the organization to become a “European CIA.” However, the organization is tiny by comparison to the CIA, with a staff of about 1,000 and a budget in 2015 of €94.4 million ($106 million).
Wainwright’s assessment is sobering, including that “several hundred” battle-trained European jihadists are likely plotting further major attacks, and that his agency is supporting some 50 ongoing terrorist investigations. Wainwright, who is British, is also convinced his country will be far less secure if Britons vote on June 23 to leave the E.U. in a so-called “Brexit.” As for Europe as a whole, he says: “The threat is alive and current. Another attempted attack is almost certain.”